• Advertise
  • Contact Us
  • About Us
  • Supplier Directory
  • SCB YouTube
  • Login
  • Subscribe
  • Logout
  • My Profile

  • CORONAVIRUS
  • LOGISTICS
    • Air Cargo
    • All Logistics
    • Express/Small Shipments
    • Facility Location Planning
    • Freight Forwarding/Customs Brokerage
    • Global Gateways
    • Global Logistics
    • Last Mile Delivery
    • Logistics Outsourcing
    • LTL/Truckload Services
    • Ocean Transportation
    • Rail & Intermodal
    • Reverse Logistics
    • Service Parts Management
    • Transportation & Distribution
  • TECHNOLOGY
    • All Technology
    • Artificial Intelligence
    • Cloud & On-Demand Systems
    • Data Management (Big Data/IoT/Blockchain)
    • ERP & Enterprise Systems
    • Forecasting & Demand Planning
    • Global Trade Management
    • Inventory Planning/ Optimization
    • Product Lifecycle Management
    • Sales & Operations Planning
    • SC Finance & Revenue Management
    • SC Planning & Optimization
    • Sourcing/Procurement/SRM
    • Supply Chain Visibility
    • Transportation Management
  • GENERAL SCM
    • Business Strategy Alignment
    • Education & Professional Development
    • Global Supply Chain Management
    • Global Trade & Economics
    • HR & Labor Management
    • Quality & Metrics
    • Regulation & Compliance
    • SC Security & Risk Mgmt
    • Supply Chains in Crisis
    • Sustainability & Corporate Social Responsibility
  • WAREHOUSING
    • All Warehouse Services
    • Conveyors & Sortation
    • Lift Trucks & AGVs
    • Order Fulfillment
    • Packaging
    • RFID, Barcode, Mobility & Voice
    • Robotics
    • Warehouse Management Systems
  • INDUSTRIES
    • Aerospace & Defense
    • Apparel
    • Automotive
    • Chemicals & Energy
    • Consumer Packaged Goods
    • E-Commerce/Omni-Channel
    • Food & Beverage
    • Healthcare
    • High-Tech/Electronics
    • Industrial Manufacturing
    • Pharmaceutical/Biotech
    • Retail
  • REGIONS
    • Asia Pacific
    • Canada
    • China
    • Europe
    • Latin America
    • Middle East/Africa
    • North America
  • THINK TANK
  • WEBINARS
    • On-Demand Webinars
    • Upcoming Webinars
  • PODCASTS
  • VIDEOS
  • WHITEPAPERS
Home » How Can Marketing and Supply Chain Ever Get on the Same Page?

How Can Marketing and Supply Chain Ever Get on the Same Page?

March 20, 2014
SupplyChainBrain

Is there any shared ground? Yes! There is! The most significant breakthroughs in CRM, corporate growth, and transformation depend on shared priorities and shared measurements. Supply chain folks and marketing people can get together if they use the right tools.

Manage, using matrix-total dollar profit: rank customers according to total annual dollar profit, and manage them accordingly (top 4 to 5 customers always receive perfect service in every regard; traditional "A" customers receive 99+ percent, highly customized service; "B" receive responsive service; "C" and "D" receive responsive service, with pricing modified to ensure profitability).

Manage for the top line first: in its purest state, it's the Amazon model. You focus on satisfied customers to build the top line, and the bottom line will follow (a very small percentage profit, but a very large number because of the immense level of sales).

Build a discovery machine: understand that good ideas come from all directions. Even small ideas can have significant potential when viewed through others' eyes or in combination with other "small" ideas. Example: the process of striving for same day delivery – the nemesis of most supply chains and the wildest dream of most salespeople – might yield special insights into frequent customer buying patterns, alternative transportation and interim storage channels, or a host of benefits that secures a much higher degree of consumer intimacy – and profit growth.

Match personal priorities: for most supply chain people, playing in the marketing sandbox is uncomfortable, impossible, often downright scary. The flip side of that proposition is also right on point.

How to get through to the "resisters”, who refuse to allow customer-facing and product-focused professionals to share anything?

These are real people – with kids and grandkids, bills to pay, careers to manage. Is that union local president protecting his employees or perhaps worried about his potential to get reelected? Does the consumer worry about our cost minimization when buying a replacement air conditioner in the middle of August? We need to fly out of the box to understand the background drivers: customer growth comes from extraordinary response to exceptions!

Share immediate and critical information: for years, Dell offered inventory detail to consumers who rarely recognized the event but were thrilled by its outcome: John Q. Public ordered a computer (via internet or phone) and communicated his carefully-chosen preferences for a "perfect" computer. During the ordering process, wonderful options often were offered – more memory for the same price, faster processor for just a few bucks more, a larger screen "on the house". John Q. was thrilled, getting a real bargain. Dell management was also thrilled: they satisfied customer needs and gave more than expected, incurring no back orders, special handling, expediting, and consequently no ridiculous added costs. The same model can work in almost any environment.

                                                  The Outlook

We have all seen successful partnerships and their synergies, and there are plenty of good examples of supply chain/marketing bridges. Yet, we often come from organizations that avoid risk and are afraid to partner with external organizations. The status quo feels acceptable, and change is strongly resisted.

Well, this is your opportunity to partner internally or externally, to multiply your knowledge and capability in terms of delivering knockout value to your customers and the resulting increased profit to your company.

RELATED CONTENT

RELATED VIDEOS

Business Strategy Alignment Global Supply Chain Management Retail
KEYWORDS business side Business Strategy Alignment enterprise silos Global Supply Chain Management intra-company collaboration marketing & sales Principal Essentialist SCM Retail Robert Sabath Supply Chain Analysis & Consulting Supply Chain Management supply chain management: supply chain management for marketing Trissential
  • Related Articles

    Business, Tech Still Can't Get on the Same Page

    Chief Marketing, Information Officers Need to Be on Same Page for Big Data to Equal Big Profit

SupplyChainBrain

Supply Chain Officers Must Face Five ‘Urgent’ Risk Areas, Gartner Says

More from this author

Wake up to live
“Supply Chains in Crisis”
updates and the latest Supply Chain News!

Subscribe to our Daily Newsletter

Timely, incisive articles delivered directly to your inbox.

Popular Stories

  • 0620_NFT.png

    Can NFTs Be an Effective Tool for Supply Chain Visibility?

    Technology
  • The Craft Beer Boom: How to Satisfy Changing Consumer Tastes

    Shortages of Beer, Popcorn Join Supply Chain Crisis

    Global Supply Chain Management
  • FedEx

    FedEx Faces Big Changes as New Boss Confronts Higher Costs, Angry Contractors

    Last Mile Delivery
  • 0621_Burrito.png

    Chipotle Zeroes in on Supply Chain Traceability and Visibility

    Sourcing/Procurement/SRM
  • cyber crime

    The Cyber Blind Spot That Makes Every Supply Chain Vulnerable

    Regulation & Compliance

Digital Edition

Scb may 2022 sm

2022 Supply Chain ESG Guide

VIEW THE LATEST ISSUE

Case Studies

  • 3PL Doubles Productivity With Robots to Fulfill Medical Supply Orders

  • E-Commerce Company Cuts Order Fulfillment Time by 40%

  • Fashion Retailer Halves Fulfillment Time With Omichannel Automation

  • Distributor Scales Business by Integrating Warehouse Automaton Software

  • Fast-Growing Fashion Brand Scales E-Commerce Fulfillment With Whiplash

Visit Our Sponsors

Yang Ming Alithya Barcoding
Blue Yonder BNSF Logistics Generix
GEP GreyOrange Here
Honeywell Intelligrated IFM Inmar
Keelvar Kinaxis Korber
Liberty SBF Locus Robotics Logility
Lucas Systems Nvidia Old Dominion
ORTEC Parsyl QIMA
Redwood Logistics Saddle Creek Logistics Schneider Dedicated
Setlog Holding AG Ship4WD Shipwell
Tecsys TGW Systems Thomson Reuters
Tive Trailer Bridge Vecna Robotics
Verity
  • More From SCB
    • Featured Content
    • Video Library
    • Think Tank Blog
    • SupplyChainBrain Podcast
    • Whitepapers
    • On-Demand Webinars
    • Upcoming Webinars
  • Digital Offerings
    • Digital Issue
    • Subscribe
    • Manage Your Subscription
    • Newsletters
  • Resources
    • Events Calendar
    • SCB's Great Supply Chain Partners
    • Supplier Directory
    • Case Study Showcase
    • Supply Chain Innovation Awards
    • 100 Great Partners Form
  • SCB Corporate
    • Advertise on SCB.COM
    • About Us
    • Privacy Policy
    • Contact Us
    • Data Sharing Opt-Out

All content copyright ©2022 Keller International Publishing Corp All rights reserved. No reproduction, transmission or display is permitted without the written permissions of Keller International Publishing Corp

Design, CMS, Hosting & Web Development :: ePublishing